Hey there FIRSTNAME, it’s Daniel here, interrupting our regularly scheduled programming with an annoying announcement – this wellness dude is unwell. Don’t worry, it’s just a cold, and I’m on the other side of it, but I’m still pissed about it.

Getting sick is so… ugh… mortal, and I’m over it. Nevertheless I’d like to channel my exhausted rage into something positive for you this week.

sick and tired of being sick and tired

I hate being sick. I know, what a revolutionary perspective! 

But I’ve got to be honest, I put a lot of added pressure on myself to stay well because – well, we deal in wellness! 

There’s an ironic twist in being a guy who runs a wellness studio and finding himself under the weather. Since we opened the studio I’ve felt a lot of pressure to embody the pinnacle of health. But here’s the thing – getting sick doesn’t mean wellness defeat; it’s a reminder from our bodies that even wellness warriors need to pause and recharge. It’s a human thing, and hey – last time I checked, I’m mostly human.

I’m notorious for taking on too much, and sometimes that manifests itself as illness so my body can recuperate. In that space of healing, though, there’s a lot of extra baggage that can accompany the piles of kleenex and cough syrup.

the symptoms beyond the sniffles

I don’t know about you, but for me there’s a certain level of guilt that comes with being sick – and a lot of lost pride. I’m quite proficient in pulling my weight, and when that’s physically not possible, It’s easy to feel like a failure. When you have people counting on you, it’s hard not to.

When your energy is low because your body is using most of its resources to combat the buggies, it’s much easier to slip into a sense of despair (where is my fainting couch?).

The hardest part for me is slowing down and giving up control. I can handle the sneezing and brain fog, but I take on a strong and stubborn offense when the mind says “go” but the body says “NO!”

It’s a lesson in surrender, for sure – not just to conserve your energy so your body has a fighting chance, but to succumb to the way things are instead of the way you wanted them to be. 

There’s also a real opportunity to practice gratitude. Do you take feeling good for granted? I can report with full confidence that I absolutely do. Those of us who are healthy 99% of the time are incredibly lucky. We get so used to our bodies working for us, that we can lose sight of its needs – especially when $#!% is going around – we gotta armor up our immune systems and pay attention with more extreme diligence so we can avoid getting taken out.

I’m also blessed to have a spouse who happens to be a doctor, but even if he wasn’t would still be throwing supplements, tinctures and remedies at me constantly. Though my attitude is less than optimal when I’m feeling crummy, the gratitude I have for Steve when I’m not feeling well is always at an all-time high.

I’m quite fortunate that getting sick is a rare occurrence and, in the grand scheme of things, I know by tomorrow I’ll feel better and be back in action, but what’s that saying? “When you’re healthy you have a million wishes, when you’re sick, you have just one.”

the body knows

The body is a phenomenal and intuitive machine – not just because it can raise its defenses and direct its energy to fighting foreign invaders – but because it knows when you’re in need of rest and will kick your ass in order to make it happen.

My main lesson through this two-day stint of sniffles and $#!%ty sleep is this: illness does not equal weakness. We all have different levels of health, different bodies and different capacities for stress (which is usually what takes us down).

It’s times like these I like to remember that the body is always talking, so we’ve got to be listening. Was I listening this time? I thought so, but I probably had my headphones on and was only half paying attention, like when Steve tells me for the sixth time that dinner is ready.

So let this be your gentle reminder to be proactive with your health as we continue through the proverbial “season of sickness”. Give your body more of what it needs – hydration, quality rest and supplementation – and do less of the things that are unnecessarily stealing energy from your life force. 

Take it from me: If you try to power through, your body will power down.

I’m already feeling better, and I know I can attribute a lot of that to Vortex. So if you sense something is trying to take over, maybe a little sweat sesh in one of our infrared saunas is in order, a halo session if your nose or lungs are indicating the need for attention, or a NuCalm session to get your body into a deeply restorative zone. 
Let’s give our bodies the love they deserve so they can do what it does best – keep us going!